By Title: Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Author: Anthony Bourdain
Publication Date: 2000
Publishing House: Bloomsbury
I stumbled across this book on the library app. It is read by the author, the late, great Anthony Bourdain. Yes, I’m still on a bit of a memoir streak. As always, I highly suggest supporting the local library. Also, heads up if you read this book, it might make you hungry, and really want to cook but maybe not in a professional kitchen.
Goodreads Synopsis:
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute cuisine—now with all-new, never-before-published material.
New York Chef Tony Bourdain gives away secrets of the trade in his wickedly funny, inspiring memoir/expose. Kitchen Confidential reveals what Bourdain calls “twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine.”
I’m not shocked by much but I will amount that the amount of drugs in this book is surprising. This book is 95% in a kitchen. This text does not dive into any other adventures in Bourdain’s life with the exception of a visit to Japan towards the end of the book.
There are two main ways in which Bourdain wrote this book. One is him discussing how he got into the chef profession, with a number of hiccups along the way. Along with his experiences in various kitchens and in various roles from dish washer to head chef. The other parts of the book are a day in the life, how home cooks can replicate restaurant quality food, advise for anyone that wants to get into the restaurant business. One thing that I learned is that those in the restaurant business, especially those in the kitchen do not have a great work-life balance.
This book is raw, the stories are not sugar coated. I really enjoyed reading this memoir, I do suggest it for fans of Anthony Bourdain’s, for fans of cooking, and for those that enjoy memoirs. Have you read this book? If yes, what did you think? Let me know in the comments. Happy reading.
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